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Thursday, September 17, 2015

Merchant's Lane, Petaling Street, KL

I rarely blog about restaurants or cafes, but my recent discovery of The Merchant's Lane (thanks to shutter therapy buddy Amir) at my usual street hunting ground, Petaling Street just begged me to photograph the location. Yes, the location itself is quite an interesting subject to shoot. It was an old heritage building, with well preserved old architecture and interiors, sporting a rustic look bringing back nostalgic memories of the 60s, or was it the 70s? The shop lot was renovated and refurbished with the cool retro interior well maintained. Instead of modern furnishing, there were wooden tables and rattan chairs, something of a rarity in today's food eatery settings in KL.

The best thing I like about the place is the spaciousness, without too many tables and chairs cramping the whole place like so many other restaurants and cafes that tried too miserably to fill in as many people as they can, creating an uncomfortably choking environment. That sense of large space is augmented by incredibly high ceiling, with partially exposed roof (through glass of course) letting light in from one side of the roof/ceiling. The natural light coming in during the day added a beautiful glow to the look of the whole setting!

Time to work out the magic of Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 PRO lens!

Did someone not complained I did not have enough interior shots taken with the M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 PRO lens during my review?

Of course I ordered food and drinks. I am a Malaysian. I live to eat. All Malaysians do.

Eat Die Me RM26

Gourmet chicken sausages, eggs, served with toasts with a serving of creamed corn, sauteed mushrooms and homemade hash

Flat White RM11

Superfruit Lemon Tea RM13

The food came in generous portions, perfect for a Malaysian like myself. The Flat White was good, but it tasted more like a Cafe Latte than a Flat White. The coffee was satisfactory.

Nonetheless, after a long walk under hot Malaysian sun in busy Petaling Street, coming to a spacious, well air-conditioned comfortable sit down place, with good coffee and some generous amount of sustenance, this place is hard to beat!

No flash was used. The trick is the abundant available light, coming from the top, from an angle (side of the ceiling, see the first photo). I would think that the 60mm F2.8 Macro is pretty good already, just don't think any PRO branding would make it any better. It is weather sealed and super sharp.

Thanks Robin. So if you had to buy just one (don't you love these questions LOL ), which one would you pick. 7-12mm, 8mm, 60mm? I have the 12-40mm Pro, 75mm, 12-50mm EZ that has the marco but is slow, 50-200mm ED SWD (also slow will upgrade to the 40-150 Pro some day) , 40-150mmED. I use the E-M1 with HLD-7 grip. I shoot mostly nature photos that includes northern lights and astro photography. I like macro photography so I'm leaning towards the 60mm but feel I need a wider angle than the 12-40mm gives me. I'm thinking the new wide angles will come down in price and show up on the used market in a year. That is why I was asking if there was a new macro on the horizon. I forgot that the 60mm was weather sealed as that is important as I shoot in cold (-0) and wet environments. Thanks :-) ps yes I realize I answered my own question here :-)

I may just drop by within the next 2 weeks as I am off from lectures. Like the wide angle pro lens results but I will have to do with the 12-40. That oversized servings probably good for my wife and me over 50.

Stuuning pics robin! I am blown away by the picture quality even though i am an Oly MFT user myself..looks like there is still a lot for me to learn about this great little camera..lol..hope to join you for a shutter theraphy session one fine day..kipidap!

Stuuning pics robin! I am blown away by the picture quality even though i am an Oly MFT user myself..looks like there is still a lot for me to learn about this great little camera..lol..hope to join you for a shutter theraphy session one fine day..kipidap!

Can you do a review on the 40-150 f/4 R lens. I got one and wonder if it can be manually focused. Met Ming Thein in Chicago at his opening. His Idea of Man show is very impressive. Hope you can visit our lovely very photogenic city sometime!